Pheonix
by WishfullyThinking
Summary: Stumbling across an excavation team on a recently discovered planet, Kirk and his crew are thrown for a loop when a thought-to-be extinct race that once inhabited the planet is alive, and pissed as hell to discover the shambles that was their previous life. NOT OC/CANON! Original Alien Race, between "2009" and "Into Darkness". T for Language, subject to rating change.


**I had this story for a long time. It was originally suppose to go as a Star Trek: The Next Generation fanfiction but I decided to update it along with the new movies. This is between the first and second movies so far, so I might change it later but that's the plan for now.**

**New alien races galore. And no, there will not be any Canon/OC. At least, not Major Canon Character/OC. Probably a background character somewhere.**

**I hope you like it.**

* * *

The Starship Enterprise slowly made its way through the oily blackness of space, the ship humming softly around all its occupants. Officers scuttled about the ship, keeping the ship intact and moving. Schools were in session, security enabled, and everything was completely fine.

Except that the captain was incredibly bored. The fact was, nothing was particularly happening. No threats to planets or to their ship, nothing to explore or extract or excavate. Even chess with Spock had gotten rather dull. His head rested on his hand with a glum expression on his face, stretched out in his seat rather uncouthly.

"Sir?" Spock approached from his right, arms behind his back, a single eyebrow raised. Jim tore his eyes from the screen in front of him to look at his first officer, almost pleading for something exciting to take place.

"Yes?"

"It has come to our attention that in the past hour a transmission has been sent to the Enterprise." Spock begins. Kirk raises his brows in interest. "We believe it comes from a Star Fleet excavation project a few light years ahead of us, although the signal is considerably weak and the transmission cut in and out, making it almost inaudible. We do believe that they are inviting us to the site, although the reasons were unclear."

"Why wasn't I notified of this earlier?" Kirk asks rather indignantly.

"I believe you were sleeping in your quarters, Captain." Spock replies, giving Kirk the sense that he is amused. "You refused to open the doors without your full rest."

"I suppose that's my fault." Kirk replies, but seems unapologetic. "Do you think we should check it out?"

"It would be rude if we were to refuse." Spock nods, but only Kirk seems to be able to see the excited sparkle in his eyes.

"Alright then." Kirk smiles, turning to the ensigns, "Ensign Chekov, go to warp six if you please. Finally, some excitement around here…"

"Engage."

* * *

They were soon hovering over the planet named Estéril, which seemed more of a dust ball with a few patches of green than anything else. This planet had been only added to the planet registry recently, excusing the science officers of their blunder of where this signal had originated from. Scans seemed to be unable to get past some sort of field that surrounded the planet, making it troublesome to get a clear view of what was on the planet. From the transmission they received earlier, they were able to pinpoint the location of which it had been sent. Despite the field, it appeared they could most likely teleport in and out of the planet, which confused and baffled all the scientific minds on board.

"Are you sure you wish to accompany us, Captain?" Spock asks Kirk as they begin gearing up for the trek. Doctor McCoy had been chosen to go as well to attend to any of those who were injured or sick below.

"Of course. I've been on this ship for days without anything exciting happening. At least let me treat myself to this." Kirk replies jokingly, slipping his phaser in a holster on his hip.

"Your funeral, Jim." McCoy says gruffly, but not without a hint of amusement in his voice.

They arrive in a very dusty and sandy area of the planet, tents and other builds set up around them. Star Fleet officers look up from their work, appearing mildly surprised by the sight of a captain, a medical officer and presumably the captain's second seemingly coming out of nowhere.

"Ah." Kirk seems conflicted about these turn of events, but he supposed it was better than being jumped by a gang of Klingons. A group of what appears to be scientists and archeologists surround them, wary of their sudden appearance. A man elbows his way through the crowd, out of breath, sweat shining on his forehead.

"Calm down 'erryone, its fine…" The man waves his hands, gesturing all was alright. He turns to the captain with a happy expression on his face, almost overjoyed. "Thank god you responded to our transmission. We saw that you had approached the planet but this damn field makes it almost impossible for us to contact you through hailing. It's quite tricky."

"Glad we're able to help." Kirk pats the man on the shoulder. "I'm Captain Kirk of the Enterprise, and this is my first officer Spock. This is Doctor McCoy, the head of Medical."

"Please to meet y'all. My name's Alexon Tyk, and I'm the head of this here excavation dig. You can call me Al." The Man smiles at all three. Al is probably in his late forties judging by the grey in the sideburns of his ginger hair; he wears cracked goggles to protect his eyes from the blowing sand and the sun and a dirty, dark-blue shirt and black pants with protective flexible armor protecting his knees and lower legs. Gloves are on his hands and are strapped tight in order to ward off sand from slipping inside the gloves.

"A pleasure as well." Officer Spock speaks up, "Although it would be helpful in understanding why you sent a transmission in the first place. Are you in need of aid?"

"Well, not quite what you're suggesting, but yes." Al smiles, appearing as if he's holding in his excitement. "I'll explain, but I hope you don't mind a lengthy story. Y'see, when Star Fleet first encountered this planet and discovered the field surrounding it, they were quite interested in understanding what caused this phenomenon. We were sent here to discover that, but of course that wasn't all we discovered."

He begins walking through the tents, motioning for the group to follow. "We named this planet Estéril, as it appears barren and sterile on the outside... but on the inside there's a fortune to be discovered. We've unearthed towns, cities, and automatic weapons. Mechanized androids like that of fiction, and the juiciest part… an unopened bunker in the side of a mountain." The man gestures towards a mountain with a big chunk taken out of it with what appears to be phasers. Metal gleams in the sunlight, the vault door appearing to be unlatched. "Well, unopened in a word. We've been able to get past the first door, but the second seems resistant to any poking, prodding, or lasers."

Spock nods, taking this in with a critical eye as they pass tables with skeletons with officers leaning over, studying the anatomy. The skeleton seems stretched-out, a bit longer than that of a human. Their forearms seem to almost reach their knees, with small fragments that appear to be claws that connect to the fingers and toes. "So, you believe that perhaps this civilization went to war?"

"Believe? I know so." Al countered, although not in spite. "The automatic weapons that I spoke of earlier? All have been found either in similar if unfinished bunkers or in the claws of these creatures. All seem to have been running into battle or fleeing, but from what we are unsure of as of yet. Their weapons appear strange similar to human weapons in the twentieth century, although quite more complicated… I'll show you."

Al leads them through the metal vault door to a rather large room without many outstanding features. It almost seems incomplete itself, save for the few jutting desks that appear sticking out of the wall. These desks are littered with glowing lights, flashing orange and yellow in seemingly random intervals. In the middle of the main wall is where the door stands, unbudging even whilst a group of scientists armed with phasers and one with a crowbar swarm over it.

"They seem quite excited, don't they?" Kirk pipes up.

"Can you blame them?" McCoy snorts, "This might be the biggest discovery of their life-time, they aren't going to be leisurely at it."

Above the door sits a small panel with a tiny lens, which Spock notices and points out. "What do you believe that might be?"

"We think it might be a camera of some sort that used to record everything that happened out here. It might still be working, so if we're able to crack this door open we'll have some actual video of what happened around here." Tyk explains, shoving his hands in his pockets. "Mainly, we sent out this transmission for some help with this door. Hopefully we won't have to use your ship to break the door down, but we could use as many hands as we can get on this project."

"Well, since we don't have anything else to do I'm sure we can help out." Kirk nods to Spock before turning to McCoy. "Bones, see if you can get the Enterprise to pick you up again. Get as many science officers as you can to get down here and help."

"That would be fantastic, Captain, thank you." Al grinned in appreciation. He gestures McCoy to a woman who can apparently help them contact the Enterprise.

"Let's check this place out, shall we?" Kirk smirks before setting off towards the door. Spock looks after him before stepping towards one of the lights as another woman approaches him.

"Interested in these?" She asks, standing next to the Officer. Spock nods, turning to the woman. She appears young, a brunette with gold streaks through her hair that Spock can tell are artificial. She seems intelligent, if a bit aloof. The woman appears to straighten up before turning her eyes to the keyboard, "We haven't had much progress with them. They aren't buttons for what we can tell, phasers and blunt force hasn't done much to scratch it."

"What about pressure?" Spock tests.

"We've tried laying on it, putting our palms flat against it, even kissing the thing." She shrugs, wiping sweat from her forehead. "Nothin'."

"Hmmm…" Spock muses.

Meanwhile, Kirk has begun helping the officers try to pry the door open with blunt force, using the crowbar. The door creaks and squeals in frustration but doesn't budge an inch. Soon the captain tires and releases his grip on the bar, much to the disappointment of the others.

"Damn, you seemed close to opening it too." Says a man, helping Kirk to his feet.

"I bet." Kirk snorts. "What do you make of this?"

"Well," The young man begins. His hair is just above shoulder-length, curling about his ears and around his face, obviously making him a scientist for Star Fleet doesn't allow their officers' sight to be obstructed by their hair. He's handsome, in a boyish sort of way, with a stocky build. "I think that some sort of explosion managed to go off out there. It explains the air-tight bunkers and extreme measures of locks. These people must have had a huge jump in technology and science in a short amount of time considering their tight numbers all clustered around this one continent. But we can't be exactly sure what happened."

"Hmmm… Well, let's put that mind to rest and get this sucker open." Kirk replies cheekily.

"Captain." Spock calls from across the room nearby one of the jutting keyboards. Kirk waves the young man to hold a moment for him to speak with his First Officer. Spock points to the other keyboard, "I believe we are supposed to hold our arms in the area for a specific amount of time in order to open it. The creatures that once walked this planet had extremely long forearms, so I would consider this being a possible way."

Kirk nods, stepping to the keyboard opposite of it, just out of Spock's reach. For a few moments they allow their hands to hover over the lights before Spock puts his hand on Kirk's shoulder, closed in order to not invade his Captain's mind. A second or so passes before a hum enters the room without warning, startling the men near the door. They jerk back as the lens above the door lights up, casting a sickly glow over the captain and his first officer. After a few moments, the light blinks off and the jutting keyboards dim to a stop.

After a moment or two, Kirk speaks up in the darkness. "Damn, did we just break this thing?"

"I do not believe so, captain." Spock replies as the green light comes back, however casting onto the floor in front of them. The light grows brighter as it begins to take shape into what appears to be a man.

The man stands straight and tall, despite being transparent. He wears what appears to be a rough overcoat with a ripped and strained shirt and trousers with boots worn over them. He's clearly layered with other clothing that isn't seen, but his figure is trembling which hints a once differentiating climate instead of the constant hot one on this planet. His hair is worn long and strewn about his shoulders, his ears popping out large and box-like. His eyes are quite large as well, with only an iris and a pupil and no white with the iris taking up all of the space. His pupils are blown wide, suggesting a dark surroundings.

_"__I have been expecting organisms to find this bunker much sooner, although my scans suggest you are not of my kind…_

_Who and what are you creatures that have invaded what remains left of my planet?"_

The officers and captain remain silent a moment. The archeologists and scientists seem too shocked to make a sound, Spock appearing as if he had conversations with most likely long-dead alien creatures all the time. "Many of us here are human, but there is a multitude of creatures here… May I ask, who are you?"

_"__My name is too complicated for your tongue to speak, as I have been watching you for many a day waiting for one of you smart enough to uncover the way of unlocking this door. Your language seems pitiably simplified, but I will indulge you with a simplified manner of my name._

_I am Mekolv of this once great planet. We did not have a name for our kind that you can speak. What have you named our planet?_ _Estéril?_

_You may call my kind Estérilian if you must."_

"It is a pleasure to meet you, Mekolv." Kirk intercepts their conversation, directing it. "I am Captain Kirk and this is my First Officer Spock."

_"__Humans…_

_You are quite curious beings._

_Are you interested in seeing what holds inside this bunker?"_

Kirk seems somewhat thrown off by the image ignoring his introductions, but rolls with it. "We would."

With that response, the image flickers off and the lights power back on. Spock removes his hand from the captain's shoulder and approaches the door. Kirk follows his lead, feeling slightly uneasy. The archeologists begin cautiously approaching as well.

The metal door finally gives way, falling down rather than sliding open which would have been expected. A voice travels overhead, giving a snort of complaint.

The room is quite dark, only illuminated by a tank that sits in the middle of the room. It glows blue, with wires and tubes feeding from it in a rather nasty show, traveling over another in a tangled fashion. Lights flicker in and out of sight from unseen terminals and keyboards. But what takes the cake is what is inside the tank.

Inside the tank holds a woman. Or what Kirk thinks is a woman.

Her hair is cut short to the nape of her neck, an auburn color, and rather choppy. Her ears pop out more than the image's had, most likely because the image had longer hair. Her skin is a nut-brown but slightly darker in some areas. Her position is odd, as if she had been forced into the tank, with her arms outstretched as if trying to escape. Claws extend from her fingers, revealing they had not fingernails but simply claws that were imbedded into their flesh. Her arms are long, almost touching the glass of the tank. Her lips are drawn up in what appears to be an agonized cry of anger, canines and fang drawn and most likely sharp. She wears what appears to be some sort of uniform, stark white streaked with mud and blood. She wears boots just like the image they had saw before, over her trousers, and her jacket is lined with animal furs to keep warm. Her gloves are fingerless and fraying, and the collar of her shirt peers out of her jacket.

"Who… was this?" One of the archeologists asks.

_"__I think you mean 'Who is this'?_

_Because she isn't quite gone from this life yet._

_Her name is a little simpler for you to say, so I will speak it. Her name is Pvidia."_

"Pvidia?" Kirk asks.

_"__Simple, isn't it? Do try to pronounce it correctly… Puh-fid-ia. Got it?"_

"So, what you're saying is…" The young man from before speaks up, "This woman is still alive?"

_"__Indeed. When I was still alive I created this chamber in order to survive the bombs that were dropped. They were gas weapons created by the AI in order to quicken the job. The gas that was released from these bombs would cause swelling of the brain, internal bleeding, what I believe you humans call concussions, and death._

_This tank had been originally a part of a beauty spa that would allow the woman to sit in it for days or years as she pleased to keep her beauty, but it felt just like sleeping._

_Unfortunately for my friend, she wasn't so pleased with the idea of sleeping for many years…_

_Oh, do watch your step please. That's my skeleton sitting on the floor."_

Kirk stepped back from where he had been originally walking, motioning for one of the scientists to bring a light inside. What the voice said was true; a body sat on the floor near the tank, rather intact as well.

_"__It appeared I was incorrect when I believed that the room was properly sealed. I died like the rest of my race, in agony."_

"Then how are you speaking to us now?" Kirk asks aloud, looking for the source of the voice.

"Captain," Spock motions the man forward, "It's an Artificial Intelligence."

The voice above hums his approval. _"Indeed. I thought ahead of time before dying. I had to believe that no other creature would survive this sort of attack, and having as little time as I did I attempt to upload my intelligence onto hardware. I believe I was mostly successful, save for a few memory gaps here and there._

_Although, it is a good thing that you have come here when you did to unlock the vault. In retrospect, I should have made a better power-source."_

"What do you mean?" Kirk asks.

_"__The field that surrounds this planet is naturally occurring, consisting of electric impulses in the air. I designed a way to harness this electricity into a power source that I thought would indefinitely work. With the appearance of you, I fear that my time may be cut short."_

"What can we do to help?" The captain asks with a hint of fear in his voice. An archeologist team is carefully picking up the body of the late Mekolv when the lights in the room they had been in prior flicker off. The sound of squelching begins to fill the room as it seems the blue that had filled the tank is beginning to drain.

_"__I am shutting down."_

"Mekolv?" Spock asks as he looks up towards the ceiling, catching sight of another lens that appears to be watching them. "What do you wish for us to do?"

There is a short pause before he replies, _"I want you to take care of Pvidia. I understand your 'Star Fleet' may have rules against interfering with creatures that have not reached space-flight abilities, but you must make an exception for her."_

"We can do that." Kirk nods, even while Spock is giving him a warning look.

_"__Thank you, Captain Kirk. I would advise you to stand back… Pvidia will be in an upset state and will not be pleased with seeing alien creatures. She will not understand your language so you must find other ways of calming her. Do not use your phasers, that will most likely only anger her for our ability to withstand electricity."_

"Oh joy." One scientist cracks.

_"__Good luck, Captain."_

The door to the tank collapsed open, and the creature was loose.

* * *

**I hope you liked it. :D**

**TBC**


End file.
